Transforming a landscape, one farmer at a time: Farmers in Lyanaginga village (Vihiga, Kenya) make strides towards an agroecological transition
Located in the Lake Victoria Basin of the western region of Kenya, Vihiga county is ranked among the highly populated counties in Kenya with a population of 590,013 persons, a population density of 1,047 persons per square kilometer and an average household size of 4.1.
- Sustainable Agriculture
Transforming a landscape, one farmer at a time: Farmers in Lyanaginga village (Vihiga, Kenya) make strides towards an agroecological transition
Located in the Lake Victoria Basin of the western region of Kenya, Vihiga county is ranked among the highly populated counties in Kenya with a population of 590,013 persons, a population density of 1,047 persons per square kilometer and an average household size of 4.1.
While Vihiga’s economy is mainly driven by agriculture which contributes 34% of the County Gross Product (CGP) and employs 85% of the labor force, most households in Vihiga are small-scale farmers with small farm sizes ranging between 0.4–1.0 ha. Vihiga has a tropical climate with an average annual precipitation of 1900mm and a mean temperature of 23 degrees celsius.
The increasing population in Vihiga has resulted in land fragmentation, leading to diminishing agricultural productivity, declining soil health and agrobiodiversity loss, all in the face of climate change. Amid Vihiga County’s undulating hills and valleys with flowing streams lies Lyanaginga village. Lyanaginga is experiencing a gradual transformation where the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is working with 51 farmers under the Biodiversity for Resilient Ecosystems in Agricultural Landscapes (B-REAL) Project which aims to demonstrate that agricultural production can be managed in ways that simultaneously conserve biodiversity while enhancing the livelihoods and resilience of smallholder farmers.